Home / news / Today, less than one euro out of 5 reaches least developing countries. OECD, time to reverse the trend.

Today, less than one euro out of 5 reaches least developing countries. OECD, time to reverse the trend.

Today, less than one euro out of 5 reaches least developing countries. OECD, time to reverse the trend.

Ahead of the DAC high-level meeting, CONCORD encourages the OECD to ensure aid maintains a laser focus on eradicating poverty and sustainable development for all. The outcomes of the meeting could reinforce current worrying trends for EU aid: decrease of aid to least developed countries, increase of conditionality and securitisation of aid as well as an increase of in-donor country costs reported.

Aside from providing a political moment, the meeting will seek to agree some changes to how in-donor country refugee costs are reported, new principles to govern the use of blended finance as well as new rules on the use of private sector instruments. These decisions could see some quite significant changes in aid and development cooperation that will have implications far into the future.

As the recent CONCORD AidWatch Report showed, these are all issues that have real importance across the EU. While 2016 saw a substantial increase of 27% in EU’s ODA spending, there has also been a substantial increase in reporting of inflated aid largely due to in-donor country costs [1]. At the same time, the amount of aid that reaches Least Developed Countries continues to decrease [2] and the costs for refugees in donor countries reported as aid keeps on rising [3].

This diversion of aid to arguably less developmental purposes – alongside the continued shift to making aid conditional on things like migration policy [4] and a somewhat uncritical approach to partnership with the private sector – means that any changes to the rules agreed in Paris today will have a real impact on the quality of EU aid. And that matters because that quality question is about impact, real change and real progress for people.

Amy Dodd

CONCORD expert and Director of the UK Aid Network

The DAC’s efforts to clarify existing rules for reporting in-donor country refugee costs are welcome but we remain concerned that allowing these to be reported as ODA, for money spent in the donor country, undermines the developmental and poverty focus of aid.

Amy Dodd

Ahead of the DAC high-level meeting, CONCORD encourages the OECD to ensure aid maintains a laser focus on eradicating poverty and sustainable development for all. The outcomes of the meeting could reinforce current worrying trends for EU aid: decrease of aid to least developed countries, increase of conditionality and securitisation of aid as well as an increase of in-donor country costs reported.

Aside from providing a political moment, the meeting will seek to agree some changes to how in-donor country refugee costs are reported, new principles to govern the use of blended finance as well as new rules on the use of private sector instruments. These decisions could see some quite significant changes in aid and development cooperation that will have implications far into the future.

As the recent CONCORD AidWatch Report showed, these are all issues that have real importance across the EU. While 2016 saw a substantial increase of 27% in EU’s ODA spending, there has also been a substantial increase in reporting of inflated aid largely due to in-donor country costs [1]. At the same time, the amount of aid that reaches Least Developed Countries continues to decrease [2] and the costs for refugees in donor countries reported as aid keeps on rising [3].

This diversion of aid to arguably less developmental purposes – alongside the continued shift to making aid conditional on things like migration policy [4] and a somewhat uncritical approach to partnership with the private sector – means that any changes to the rules agreed in Paris today will have a real impact on the quality of EU aid. And that matters because that quality question is about impact, real change and real progress for people.

Amy Dodd

CONCORD expert and Director of the UK Aid Network

The DAC’s efforts to clarify existing rules for reporting in-donor country refugee costs are welcome but we remain concerned that allowing these to be reported as ODA, for money spent in the donor country, undermines the developmental and poverty focus of aid.

Amy Dodd

CONCORD expert and Director of the UK Aid Network

In addition to these new rules and principles, a potentially quite new and different mandate for the Development Assistance Committee itself will be under discussion.

Our confederation welcomes the work the committee has done to improve relationships with civil society, here in the EU and globally. We are pleased to see that reflected in their new mandate for more inclusive ways of working. At a time when civil society space is shrinking and under attack in too many places, formalising this into a structured process is an important step and one that needs to happen now.Johannes Trimmel

In addition to these new rules and principles, a potentially quite new and different mandate for the Development Assistance Committee itself will be under discussion.

Our confederation welcomes the work the committee has done to improve relationships with civil society, here in the EU and globally. We are pleased to see that reflected in their new mandate for more inclusive ways of working. At a time when civil society space is shrinking and under attack in too many places, formalising this into a structured process is an important step and one that needs to happen now.Johannes Trimmel